REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE FAMILY DAY RECEPTION IN ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE FAMILY DAY RECEPTION IN ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN MONDAY, 10 DECEMBER, 2001
Is cúis mhór dom fáilte a chur romhaibh go léir chuig Áras an Uachtaráin.
It is a great pleasure for Martin and I to welcome you all to this lovely house which has been our home for the last four years, Áras an Uachtaráin. Thank you for taking time off work, off school – which I hope wasn’t too much of a hardship – or away from shopping to join us and to brighten up our preparations for Christmas on this wonderful afternoon. I would particularly like to welcome all the children who are with us today - you make this time of year special for us.
You know Santa and all his helpers are very busy just now reading all your letters, getting the toys made in time and making sure that Rudolf and his friends are ready to get to every house on Christmas Eve. I believe he is having a difficult time this year – yes, the elves are in revolt and threatening industrial action. They are a bit fed up because Santa is getting all the credit for packing the presents, and poor Mrs. Claus who’s working her fingers to the bone, 25 hours a day, doesn’t get so much as a mention. So they asked me to say a few words today about Mrs. Claus, and I found a poem called Mother Christmas which is just right, I think:
Where are you Mother Christmas?
I really wish I knew,
Why Father should get all the praise,
And no one mentions you.
I’ll bet you buy all the presents,
And wrap them large and small,
And all the time old Santa Clause,
Pretends he’s done it all.
So hail to Mother Christmas,
The uncomplaining champ,
And down with Father Christmas,
The good for nothing scamp.
With a bit of luck, that’ll keep the elves happy. I’m sure that Santa’s helper with us today will bring back the word that we all appreciate the wonderful work that old Santa and Mrs. Claus, are doing.
Christmas is a time for families, and families come in all shapes and sizes. But one thing is true of all of them. They are there to support us as we take our first tentative steps in life - learning how to love and be loved, how to cope with disappointments and to celebrate our successes. All year round, our parents work so hard to make everything right for us, to take our worries away, to solve our problems, to make the bricks and mortar of a house into a wonderfully caring, comforting, encouraging and loving home. When we are young we don’t always realise how much they give us of their time, their care and their love. They worry with us, smile with us, listen to our every problem and always stand by us when we need them most.
And as parents, we come to realise that it is ultimately through our children that we come to truly know about love. In between the ups and downs of family life, even as we nag about untidy bedrooms, or the telephone bill, worse still the mobile phone bill – who ever invented the text message! - parents and children each bring a wonderful richness to the other’s lives, joy and a sense of fulfilment. Sometimes our lives are too busy to take a moment to think about how much we owe each other and to thank each other for the love that we give and take for granted day in and day out. So maybe in these few shared moments in this house we can enjoy just being in the company of the people who think the most of us.
I hope that this Christmas will be special for you. It is a very busy time, there’s so much to do – all that shopping, cooking, cleaning, and more shopping – trying to get the lights on the tree to work, ice the cake without loosing half of it to little fingers, and when dad’s around – not so little fingers, get the chimney cleaned because Santa complained about the soot last year, and we still have to find time for fun. And yet despite the hard work, most of us thrive on the excitement of this time of year.
Christmas is also a lonely time for some people and it’s a time when someone in your neighbourhood who’s lonely or sick or has lost someone could really do with some cheering up, a friendly word or gesture, a visit, a phone-call or even a Christmas card to tell them that you remember them, are thinking of them. Small things – easy to do and yet they can mean so much. So if you can make the time, share a little of that wonderful Christmas spirit with someone else.
I hope you enjoy your visit here and make a few new friends today. This is a friendly place and I want you to feel at home here. We have a great visitors’ centre downstairs which you should take some time to explore later on. I would like to say a special thank you to our stand-in Santa, and his helpers, this evening. They have done a really good job and I’m sure that the real Santa, and let’s not forget Mrs. Claus, would be proud of them! I would like to thank Paul Kennedy, our MC for this afternoon, and the truly superb Palesterina choir. I would also like to thank the very talented, Aiden Keane our Magician who brought his own unique sense of magic to this afternoon. A big, big thank-you to the Aras team who have worked harder than Santa’s elves to get the place looking so fantastic for you, and making sure you have nice things to eat and drink!
I hope that you all have a memorable afternoon, a safe journey home and a peaceful and happy Christmas.
Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi shonas daoibh go léir. Go raibh maith agaibh.